There are a lot of things going on in the world right now. Social media and the news are abuzz with stories about Bruce Jenner, The Duggars, Police Brutality, Christian business being shut down for refusing to glorify sin, etc, etc, etc. And of course in our human nature we all have an opinion about them. Facebook has went from a fun place to share pictures of family and friends and events in our lives to a place of political and religious agenda. It seems to be the only place where you can voice your beliefs to the widest audience. However, with your opinion there is always a counter opinion. Social media is place where you are free to say what is on your mind-to a limit-and with that comes either support and agreement, or personal attack in opposition of your opinion or belief. If someone disagrees with you they are free to "de-friend" or "unfollow" or they are free to comment on your post and start a discussion and/or argument. You are also free to voice your opinion in favor or against someone else's and in turn will either be "de-friended" or "blocked" from their social media lives.
Recently I encountered this. I had a "friend" or more of an associate, someone I used to work with a long time ago that I followed on FB. He made this huge FB post angered towards the fact that so many people are posting meme's making fun of Bruce "Caitlyn" Jenner and how he is being called a hero for coming out of his cross dressing closet. Many people feel that he should not be called a hero for cutting himself up and trying to change himself into something that he is not when there are so many other hero's out there like our police force, fire department, and military. Others who have eggs in the transgender basket feel that he is a hero for coming out publicly about how he has always felt that he is a woman trapped in a mans body and people feel it's heroic that he is doing this change so out in the open and sharing his story with the world in hopes that other in the closet transgenders will be brave enough to do the same. His post went like this:
"Changing genders, fighting for our freedoms or being a hero in general requires each and every individual to have courage, and courage takes a hell of a lot more guts than half the people I see wasting their time talking down on Caitlyn Jenner. How about this, instead of posting tasteless memes, you go out and do something that requires courage from you. Put yourself out there and see what happens. Maybe someone will make a hateful meme about you!"
I replied to this post because I am one of those rare people that doesn't think Bruce is a hero. I also took a bit of offense because in general, everyone these days is so up in arms about social issues, which is great, but they are only passionate about what suits their agenda and they don't care about the issues that other people care about. This world is so topsy turvy towards the liberal left agenda and more and more if your voice your opinion or belief against the perversion and sin that has taken hold of our world, the more you are ostracized and persecuted.
I replied to this post stating that I as a Christian put myself "out there" on a daily basis and face persecution from social media, friends, and family for standing up for my faith, and asked if that takes the kind of courage that he was talking about. You see, I've witnessed this person numerous times make negative comments regarding religion and religious people in standing up for his beliefs in "humanity". Spiritualism runs rampant and is a central theme. So I wondered if he cared about religious persecution and religious freedom as part of his "humanity" stance or if it was just transgender or gay rights he cared about. I was sure to get a reaction but I didn't quite expect the one I got from his wife who I have considered a pretty good friend, even though we've never met in person:
"I guess you missed the part where he said "fighting for our freedoms" which you can probably lump in the religious freedom that you speak of. Instead, you have chosen to make this post about victimizing yourself and the rest of your Christian Crusade. Unlike the close-minded judgement I've seem come from some of your posts, we're accepting of all humans, even self-proclaimed Jesus Freaks (your words on your bio, not mine) like yourself. Perhaps you should re-read before leaving comments as asinine as the one you just left."
I don't know about anyone else but that response didn't sound very "accepting", nor did it feel accepting at all. In fact it felt downright rude and cruel. I know, I shouldn't get offended but I admit, it hurt my feelings to be talked to in this tone when I have been NOTHING but supportive and nice to this girl. I replied to her that she should trust me, that I do not feel like a victim whatsoever because Christ told me in His word that I will be persecuted for believing in Him and declaring His name and I feel pride when this happens because I know I'm doing something right. I told her that I was simply making the point that everyone has a right to their opinion. They have a right to support Bruce Jenner, I really could care less. I pointed out that other people have the right to post "tasteless" memes or to stand up against him being called a hero and that they shouldn't care either, and I waved a white flag. I was again met with a cold and rude tone:
"The only people that should be offended by his post are the ones posting tacky memes or making comments attacking someone for just being themself, so unless you're guilty of that then there was no need for the comment asking if you fit into his definition of humanity."
She went on to say that she's never made a negative comment about religious issues in the past and honestly, I don't have the time or patience to go back into either of their social media accounts to prove what I've seen so I just left it alone. But to add insult to injury, I discovered this morning that I have been blocked from her Instagram account. This is a person that is a pretty well known blogger and has her own business and I've done more than what I was ever obligated to do by supporting her and spreading the word about her to get her more exposure and more followers. I guess the fact that we have differing opinions means more to her than the word of mouth business that she runs and how she treats people who have a different opinion than her own. *SHRUG*
My point in this is that right or wrong on the fact that I probably should have left the post alone in the first place...this is the type of thing that is running rampant on social media these days. If you are ANYTHING but a conservative Christian then you are stuck up for, you are defended, and you deserve your rights to do anything you want to without anyone saying anything against you. If you are a Christian however, you are hated, you are slandered, you are made fun of, you are de-friended and blocked, you are persecuted, your business is threatened with lawsuit and shut down, you are called a bigot, closed minded, told you are following a hate filled God, etc, etc. In fact in response to one of my comments on this post another person came up to say
"Christians put themselves out there for mocking by trying to justify hatred and bigotry using an irrelevant, ancient book." - MB
Irrelevant and ancient book. That's what I see constantly. The insults are slung around about Christians so freely these days that it is almost as if we should go to legislation and try to make it a hate crime like everyone else does for their agenda. Here is the thing though....ALL of this is already predicted in the Bible. Christ already warned us and told us this was going to happen and has told us that "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." 1 Peter 4:14. I found 72 verses alone about persecution towards Christians, and I know there are far more than that. I've experienced all kinds of persecution regarding my religious beliefs my whole life. As far back as I can remember I have been made fun of because I observe the true Biblical Sabbath, I've been made fun of and actually had people get angry with me because I don't eat pork. I don't know if it's because I am an adult now and I'm more aware of it, or if the persecution is just getting worse, but in today's society it seems that if you speak the name of Christ you are immediately hated. The sad part of it is, we are so misunderstood which is the claim of the other side. I want to make it clear, I don't hate Bruce Jenner, I don't hate transgender people, and I don't hate gay people. I don't hate atheists or agnostics. In fact I very much love them. Christ loves them, so I love them. The secular world fails to understand that all we as Christians to is pray for them and lift them up to Christ asking Him to have mercy on them and give them enough time to come to Him and ask for forgiveness and turn from their sin so that they might enjoy the peace and comfort in Christ that we have. I want the whole world to be in Heaven. I loathe the thought of Satan winning any life over to his evil agenda. I loathe the thought of any person falling victim to his lies and losing their salvation. It simply breaks my heart.
The closer you become to Christ the farther away from the world you become. You become an alien to society and to the worldly ways and the secular view becomes more and more disgusting. The closer to Christ you get the easier Satan's lies become exposed and if you believe in God your natural instinct is to talk about Him, to tell people about Him, to reject things and people that reject Him. In doing this you will come to realize that you are going to lose people in your life. Those people that you thought were good friends or even your own family members will turn against you for your beliefs. It will hurt. It will cause you to feel offended. Embrace that pain because Christ is sifting the wheat from the tares. Christ is putting this world through great labor pains to weed out those who will follow Him and those who will not. Not everyone you lose is a loss. The closer to Christ you become, your circle will get smaller and it is worth it. Surround yourself with like minded people who will be able to lift you up and keep your strong in these final days on earth. Don't feel bad about cutting people out of your life that do not have the same beliefs as you. You don't have to be "friends" with everyone and not everyone that comes in and out of your life is meant to stay there.
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